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Nathan Robertson backs badminton venue change in 2012 (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:01:31 +0000

Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson has backed a decision to stage badminton at Wembley Arena during the 2012 Games in London.

Organisers decided against building a temporary venue at the Olympic Park, a move that is unpopular with badminton's governing body.

But Robertson told BBC Sport: "For players, Wembley has a lot of history.

"To win a medal there at the London Olympics would give it a bit of extra spice rather than in a new venue."

Robertson won silver with mixed doubles partner Gail Emms at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but the pair enjoyed less success in Beijing four years later as they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage.

Elizabeth Cann goes for fourth national badminton title (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:50:55 +0000

Jersey's Elizabeth Cann says she is ready to prove herself at the English National Badminton Championships.

The 31-year-old is the only player in the draw who has won the title before.

The four-time champion told BBC Jersey: "I still want to be number one in the country, and winning the nationals is one sure way to prove it."

Top seed Cann has a bye in the first round, and will meet either Steffi Clark from Yorkshire or Hertfordshire's Helena Lewczynska.

Despite her three previous victories in the women's singles, Cann lost out in the final last year, going down 27-25 in the final game to Jill Pittard.

All Indian badminton finals in South Asian Games

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:47:58 +0000

Dhaka, Feb 3 (PTI) Reigning supreme, shuttlers made it an all-Indian finals to ensure five gold and five silver medals in the 11th South Asian Games here today.

Having already bagged the men's and women's team gold medals earlier, Indian badminton teams led by national champions Chetan Anand and Trupti Murgunde hence all set to make a clean sweep tomorrow.

In the men's singles semi-finals, top seeded Anand made a short work of Lankan No 2 Dinuka Karunaratne 21-15 21-5 in a 25-minute battle at the Wooden Floor Gymnasium courts.

In the summit clash, Anand will take on compatriot second seeded R M V Guru Sai Dutt who beat Ahsan Qamar of Pakistan 21-15 21-11 in 21 minutes.

Top seeded Sayali Gokhale dumped Pakistan's Palwasha Bashir 21-8 21-3 in the women's singles semis in a battle that lasted just 20 minutes.

China's Lin Dan to return (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:46:22 +0000

BEIJING - BADMINTON'S Olympic and world champion Lin 'Super' Dan will make his first appearance of the season at next month's All-England Championships.

The Chinese player took a prolonged break after complaining of exhaustion and skipped this season's first two tournaments in South Korea and Malaysia.

But the 26-year-old said he was fighting fit to try to defend the title he won last year. 'I was not physically ready for the past two international events,' Lin told the China Daily.

'I was really tired after a busy 2009. After a period of break ... I feel much better. It's the start of the year and a very important event for me.' Lin was almost unbeatable in international competitions in 2009 - playing 39 matches and losing only twice - but plans to reduce the number of tournaments he plays in this year.

'As a young player you have to play as many matches as possible in order to gain experience,' he said. 'As a veteran you should choose high-quality competition as the best way to stay healthy and remain in peak competitive form.'

'Super Dan' eyes All-England title

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:44:58 +0000

World and Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan is set to make his first appearance of the season at the All-England Championships in March after missing the year's first two competitions in South Korea and Malaysia.

"I was not physically ready for the past two international events," Lin told China Daily during his endorsement press conference with Gillette on Sunday.

"After a period of break and tune-up I feel much better and will definitely compete at the All-England Championships."

Chinese sports brand Li-Ning pumps in $8.8 million into Singapore badminton (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:09:54 +0000

Singapore, February 1, 2010 – Chinese sports brand Li-Ning will be sponsoring the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) to the tune of S$8.8 million. The sponsorship is a combination of cash and value-in-kind over a four-year period from 2010 to 2013.

“Our strategic direction from 2009 and subsequent next five years, will involve overseas market development, together with our aim to become the sporting brand synonymous with Badminton,” said Ms Vivien Lim, the general manager of Li-Ning Sports Singapore Pte Ltd.

“The brand differentiation is to establish badminton as [the] benchmark sport. In addition, [the] core competencies of Li-Ning are brand building and marketing, proper product design and R&D. Now the company wants to consolidate their position … by sponsoring associations, coaches, players and organizing tournaments.”

Indonesian Badminton Players Make Impressive Start To Cup Build-Up (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:07:52 +0000

It is still early days, but the Indonesian Badminton Association has to be pleased after its shuttlers made a strong showing in their first warm-up for the Thomas and Uber Cups.

Its call-ups did as expected at the National Championship in Surabaya, East Java, over the weekend. They swept all five titles as they began preparations for their respective qualifying tournaments in February.

However, national team head coach Christian Hadinata was not about to give his players a premature pat on the back.

Top seeds shine in junior badminton tournament (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:03:35 +0000

The final day of the Sushant Chipalkatti All-India Junior Ranking Tournament went as expected, with all the top seeds winning the titles in their respective age groups.

In the Under-13 category, first seed Chirag Sen beat C.Rahul Yadav of Andhra Pradesh 22-20, 21-17 in the singles final. He then teamed up with his singles opponent to clinch the doubles title as well, beating second seeded-pair A S S Siril Verma and M. Kanishq of Andhra Pradesh.

Arun George of Kerala accomplished a similar feat in the Under-16 age group, beating Aditya Joshi of Madhya Pradesh in the singles final, then winning the doubles title with his partner Santosh Ravuri.

Robertson out to claim double victory at national championships (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:54:28 +0000

NATHAN Robertson is the man everyone wants to beat at the English National Badminton Championships next month.

The World, European, and Commonwealth gold medalist has been named top seed in both the men's and mixed doubles at the event, which takes place from February 5-7 at the Manchester Velodrome.

Robertson, who won an Olympic silver medal with Gail Emms in Athens in 2004, is hoping new partner Jenny Wallwork can help him add to his impressive tally of seven English National titles.

Malaysia Open - Chong Wei blows away Boonsak in just 34 minutes (pic)

webmaster@BadmintonPlanet.com (Badminton News) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:39:58 +0000

AN overjoyed Lee Chong Wei kissed the Jalur Gemilang on his T-Shirt and it drew the loudest cheer in the packed Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

It was a moment to savour for the world number one Chong Wei when he lifted the Malaysian Open men’s singles title for the sixth time in a most convincing fashion.

The win ended his agonising wait for his first back-to-back Open badminton title in his career. He had won the Korean Open last week.

Yesterday, a cool and confident Chong Wei took only 34 minutes to blow away Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand with a 21-13, 21-7 win in one of the most lop-sided finals in the home tournament.

“I have never seen a big crowd like this for the Malaysian Open. My parents were here too to watch me play for the first time in the stadium. I am so happy,” said the 28-year-old Chong Wei.

It was an awesome win for the Malaysian.

He was only troubled briefly in the opening game when Boonsak fended off some fierce attacks to take a 11-10 lead.

Chong Wei came out of the interval transformed and turned the tempo of the game to show the Thai how fast he could be on the court.

With superb speed, he toyed around with Boonsak to take a 9-0 lead in the second.